The Reason For Their Chains
by Symphonic Fantasia
Summary: The adamantoises and tortoises wandered the Archlyte Steppe, chains dragging across the ground while their children remained chainless. Vanille and Fang understand why they are like this but never bother explaining it to their party members. POST XIII.


**Author's Notes: ****And look! ANOTHER WEIRD HEADCANON FANFIC. I don't know what's come over me. I've completely took one foot out of the HM/RF fandom for reasons even I don't know why. Anyway, it'll be a lot of space taking up the explanation about adamantoises/tortoises but all I will say is that I believe that they were once domesticated due to their broken shackles and chains/the saddle and reins system/and also all those carrying things on their shells. Vanille totally had a pet adamantoise. Just saying.**  


**Edit: All errors are corrected.  
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**Disclaimer: Yadda yadda. Don't own. You know the drill.  
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The creature gave off a small purr like sound, nuzzling the pumpkin haired girl with her muzzle. Vanille chuckled, giving a small kiss to the Adamantoise. "Aw, you're such a good girl, aren't you, Fluffy?" The Adamantoise nodded, pushing her muzzle against her owner once again.

"I keep telling you, Vanille. Fluffy is such a sissy name for an Adamantoise."

The girl puffed out her cheeks, looking at her childhood friend as she walked over to her. "It is not a sissy name! I think it fits Fluffy just fine!"

Fang chuckled, shaking her head. "Whatever you say. Now come on. The Elder needs us to bring her over to the others and help out with the supplies."

"Hee hee, alright!" Vanille stroked the Adamantoises cheek, resting her own against it. "Now be a good girl and lay down for us, ok?" On command, the creature gave out soft roar, laying down immediately at her masters feet. Vanille giggled again, patting her friend's neck before climbing into the saddle on the back of her neck. Fang soon joined her, sitting behind her. "Ok, Fluffy, up up! We're heading over to your friends!"

Fluffy roared once again, lifting her large form onto her strong legs. The Adamantoise stomped away from the corral away from the village and into the direction of the others. It was a normal thing for the Oreba villagers to do. They had tamed and breed Adamantoise's and Adamantortoise's and used them to aid in the delivery of various supplies left and right. Other villages and towns held them as well and they were used as ways of traveling from one place to another. Vanille was lucky enough to claim one of her own and she loved Fluffy to death. Yet still, she knew that she would have to leave her one day. And soon.

"Vanille." The Dia clan member glanced back at her friend before paying attention to the road ahead of them. "We leave in the morning. What are you going to do with Fluffy?"

Vanille sighed softly, patting the rough yet lovable skin of her friend. "Well...Fluffy can't go with us on this...l'Cie focus, can she?"

"No. She can't."

"Well, then she'll have to stay here with the others." Vanille looked back at Fang, giving her a smile. "Besides, it wouldn't be right of me to take her away from her friends and family. She'll miss them just as much as I'll miss her and she'll be happier here!"

Fang smiled, ruffling the pumpkin colored hair before her. "That's my girl. I'm glad you chose the right path to take."

Vanille giggled again but her smile disappeared as she returned looking to the path before her. It broke her heart knowing that she was leaving her pet behind. It was just as bad as leaving Bhakti behind in their room. But she knew that neither of them could go with her. She was with Fang and they needed to complete their focus before they became Ceith. She placed her hand once again on her pets neck, stroking it softly. "I'll miss you, Fluffy..." She whispered softly, a tear rolling down her cheek.

The morning had quickly came and Vanille and Fang were gone. The Adamantoise was left behind with her family and friends while Vanille was off trying to get as close to figuring out her focus as possible. The wand wielding l'Cie constantly thought back to her dear pet. She wondered if she was doing alright and if the village was caring for her properly. But Fang quickly told her to relax and focus on the task at hand. But she couldn't. She was worried for Fluffy with each passing day.

And soon, she had turned to crystal.

The war was over but it left Gran Pulse in shambles. Oreba and other villagers needed to leave their homes and their belongings behind. This included their Adamantoise's and tortoise's. The villagers had no time to say their goodbyes or to free the creatures, having heard word that the bridge would soon collapse. The various Puslians hurried along, their supplies on their backs bouncing as they headed for the bridge. The Adamantoise's and tortoise's watched as their previous owners left them behind, their roars sounding mournful and begging for them to return. But still, the villagers of Oreba continued onward, ignoring them as if they were random creatures in the Archlyte Steppe. Yet they were still hopeful and confident that their owners would return to set them free from their shackles so they could go with them.

But days passed and no one returned.

The large turtle like creatures still stayed in Oreba, surviving on whatever plants they could find but their small resources were running out quickly. They had soon realized that no one was going to come back and help them. They were alone. They were abandoned and it scarred the creatures hearts. But they would not allow themselves to die here.

One of them was courageous enough to attempt to break free, pulling at the shackles and chains that bound its ankles and tail to the planet. It pulled and tugged, finally breaking free from them. It looked down momentarily at its legs, finding that part of the shackles had still remained. But that didn't matter. It was free. The Adamantoise roared for its herd members to follow its lead if they wanted to survive. The other Adamatoise's and tortoise's didn't hesitate to follow the others lead. One by one the chains broke, freeing all the creatures from their prisons.

They were free. Free to roam wherever they wanted to go. But to where, they had no clue. They would know where it was when they found it.

As the other herd members stomped away from the corral, one particular Adamantoise looked up at the sky. Fluffy had hoped that one day Vanille would return to her. She missed her owners hands and her soft kisses. She would never find another one like her. But now it seemed like she would never come back and the Adamantoise just had to accept that. She roared up mournfully into the sky before following after her herd.

The creatures traveled for days, starting their travels from sun up to the dark of the night and resting only then. They needed to find a place where they could live easily without having to worry about more Pulsian's coming to claim them. They were feral now, shunned away from their owners for reasons they didn't understand. But it no longer mattered to them. They would soon find their new home.

And their travels led them to the Archlyte Steppe.


End file.
